


The Ghost King's Tale

by bluelove22



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fix-It, Friendship, Ghost!Nico, dead!Nico
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 16:06:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13527795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluelove22/pseuds/bluelove22
Summary: What if the line "the twins snuff out the angel's breath" really meant what it was insinuating? In other words, how the MoA, HoH, and BoO would have gone if Percy, Jason, and Piper had been too late to save Nico from the giants. Ghost!Nico, Dead!Nico. *cross-posted from fanfiction.net*





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO.

" _Otis trudged over to the dais, stopping occasionally to do a plié. He knocked over the jar, the lid popped off, and Nico di Angelo spilled out. The sight of his deathly pale face and too-skinny frame made Percy's heart stop. Percy couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead. He wanted to rush over and check, but Ephialtes stood in his way." – Mark of Athena ~pg. 429_

* * *

Despite Piper's best effort, the battle between the giants and the trio of demigods broke out too soon for her to get Nico to safety. She had only been halfway to his still form when she'd been surrounded by hungry leopards. There was barely enough time to will a variety of meat at the large wild cats via her cornucopia so they wouldn't tear her limb from limb when a sandbag caught her shoulder and sent her crashing to the ground.

Several feet away the fight was picking up. Jason and Percy landed blows on the twins that would have sent them crumbling to dust if they'd had the help of a god; however, Bacchus chose to appear only after the situation started to seem bleak. It was then the Roman god of wine transported Piper to safety while sitting back to watch the two sons of the Big Three take on his old enemies. After Bacchus killed the giants, which took forever to the now exhausted Percy and Jason, Leo and the rest of their friends arrived on the  _Argo II_. It was when Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Coach Hedge made their way off the ship to stand in front of the trio that Piper suddenly gasped.

"Guys," she said worriedly as she gazed in the direction Hazel's newly rescued brother was still lying on the ground, "Nico hasn't moved yet. He's still unconscious."

"What?" Hazel shouted. She turned her attention to where the bronze jar had been knocked over earlier. When her golden eyes locked on her brother's form she took off sprinting, her lips locked in a tight frown. The rest of the party followed seconds later.

As Hazel knelt next to the motionless son of Hades, Percy swallowed back a bout of guilt. He'd originally planned on wailing on the kid for not telling either camp about the other's existence. Looking at him now though, Percy knew he wouldn't be doing anything of the sort.

Nico di Angelo had always been pretty scrawny. He'd also been getting paler and paler for some time, as he was probably spending more time in the Underworld than the he was aboveground, but now his appearance was that of a freed war prisoner. His clothes were in tatters and through the thin material the demigods and satyr could count every one of his ribs. The dark circles under his eyes were just as prominent as the multiple untreated wounds covering his body. Even after they got him to safety Percy wondered if he would ever recover from what he'd been through. Being captured by giants and stuck in a jar for a week slowly dying could be traumatizing.

"No," Hazel suddenly whispered, the tears escaping her beginning to cascade down her cheeks.

Frank immediately went to her side. "Hazel, um, I know he looks bad, but he'll pull through. We should get him to the  _Argo II_  while he's out so—"

"Wait," Jason suddenly interrupted him. Deep down most of those there knew the strong daughter of Pluto wouldn't be crying as hard as she was unless… "He's not unconscious, is he, Hazel?"

A line from Ella's prophecy seemed to echo through their heads.

_The twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the keys to endless death._

Snuff out. Did the line really mean what it was saying?

She shook her head roughly, an arm coming up to wipe some of the tears off of her face. "H-he's—Nico is…"

"Dead?"

Everyone gathered around the body of their friend screamed, eyes rising to see the ghostly form of… their friend?

Nico sighed tiredly, his appearance looking much different from the dead boy on the ground. Other than the fact that he was partially transparent, he could almost pass as a human. He was wearing a clean, undamaged version of his usual attire consisting of black jeans, worn sneakers, a skull T-shirt, and an oversized aviator jacket. His skull ring adorned his finger just as it always had too, but that was where the similarities stopped. For the first time since Bianca the son of Hades appeared to be healthy. He had a lean amount of muscle and a healthy amount of fat over his ribs, his skin was almost back to the olive tint it had been around four years ago, and he looked more alive than ever.

Funny. He looked more alive now than he did when he was dead.

"Oh, Nico!" Hazel threw herself at him, landing in his arms despite him being a ghost. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried; Nico held her quietly and closed his eyes for a full minute until gently pushing her away. When he spoke a moment later his voice was soft.

"It's okay, Hazel. I'm the Ghost King, so dying wasn't as terrifying as it could have been. Father made the journey as smooth and painless as possible," he explained. Gratitude shown in his dark brown eyes at the memory. "Right now with a war on the horizon he is allowing me to ignore going to the Underworld in favor for assisting you and everyone else on the quest."

He then turned to the rest of them with a nervous smile tugging the corner of his lips up. It startled the demigods, especially those who had met Nico before, that he would smile after everything he'd been through. He rarely smiled as it was.

Just as he was about to speak though, Percy stepped forward and pulled his cousin into an embrace.

"I'm so sorry we didn't make it in time," he confessed with tears in his eyes. The part of Percy that strived to protect his friends and loved ones was devastated. "I failed you again, Nico. I understand if you hate me."

Nico hurriedly broke the hug by pushing the son of Poseidon away, a hint of color rushing to his cheeks as he glanced at those around him sheepishly.

"Percy, I never truly hated you. I only realized that after the initial shock of what you told me. When Bianca told me it was her choice and not to blame you I already knew deep down I could never hate you for failing to keep your promise. She made her choice, and long ago I made my choice to forgive you. And I know you don't think I'm trustworthy, but—"

"I do trust you," Percy declared with an air of finality. "That incident with your father was understandable. I realize that now. He tricked you, plus he almost incinerated you for going against him. Besides, without your help in the labyrinth, with Luke's mom, Hestia, the whole bathing in the Styx, not to mention bringing an entire army of the undead and your father to help us win the Second Titan War, and protecting my mom and Paul during the war I would probably be dead. Despite how unfairly I treated you and how much you did for me I let one mistake blind me from being your friend. I just wished I had realized all of that before…"

He didn't have to finish his statement for everyone to know what he meant.

For a long moment Nico simply stared at Percy. It was several seconds later when a pained look shown in his eyes before disappearing.

"Thank you," he said finally.

"You don't need to thank me. I should be thanking you."

Rolling his eyes, Nico opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the floor began to shake.

"Um, sorry to interrupt," Leo raised his hand as if he were in school and desperately trying to get called on. "Now that the floor is caving in it would be a great time to head back to the ship. Also, Gaea sent a vision of Annabeth. She might be hurt, so we should hurry. Nico can tell us where the Doors of Death are on the way."

Percy's eyes widened worriedly. "Annabeth is hurt?"

"Wait!" Coach Hedge yelled. "What do we do about…?" He gestured at the body on the floor, and the demigods turned to Nico. It was his after all.

"Leave it," Nico instructed. Without any traces of emotion on his face he slipped the skull ring off his body's finger and placed it in Hazel's open palm. She slipped it onto her own finger with a sniffle. "There's no use bringing a dead body on the ship, but once we're out of here I'd appreciate making sure this place goes down. I don't want it just, um, left out in the open," he finished in a mumble.

Hazel seemed as if she wanted to argue, but the resolute look on her brother's face stopped her. With heavy hearts the demigods, satyr, and ghost made their way back to the ship. Once they were safely inside and up in the air, Coach Hedge fired at the building one last time. Within seconds the crumbling sped up until only a mess of metal and concrete was left. Hazel held Nico's hand as he stared down at the scene.

No one mentioned the single tear that escaped the son of Hades.

As Percy went to tell Leo about what Bacchus said about the Emmanuel Building's back parking lot he couldn't help but be reminded of Bianca di Angelo, whose body had been buried under a pile of metal and junk just a few years ago.

The Fates must have a thing for dark irony.

* * *

A couple of minutes later, with help from Percy and Frank, the  _Argo II_  set a straight course for where Annabeth was. In the meantime everyone convened at the helm to hear about each other's encounters. Once Leo told everyone about what happened concerning the Archimedes spheres and Jason relayed how the fight with the twin giants had gone down it was Nico's turn.

Nico's ghostly form sat perched on the railing. It became apparent that while he could physically touch people and objects like the sword at his side, which had been returned by Hazel, he was practically weightless on top of being partially see-through. He admitted to being able to go intangible when he so desired, but he usually tried to remain somewhat solid.

"Firstly," Nico started while gazing at them evenly, "I want you to know that I did know about both camps. My father led me to Camp Jupiter and told me to keep each other's existence a secret because neither side was ready yet. Chiron suspected I knew, since he was keeping the same secret, but the gods would've had our heads for starting a civil battle between demigods. As much as I wanted to tell you when you arrived, Percy, I couldn't."

The son of Poseidon nodded, and beside him Jason felt guilty for calling him shady for simply doing what he needed to do.

"Why did he pick you to harbor such a secret?" Piper asked with a frown. "That seems like a lot of responsibility."

"It was because of Hazel, right? She's a daughter of Pluto and needed somewhere safe to live after rescuing her from the Underworld." Frank guessed.

Nico shook his head. "That's what I thought at first too, but it turned out I needed to realize how important it was that I search for the Doors of Death in order to assist you all on your quest. Finding them became my top priority."

"There are two sides to the Doors of Death," he stated. "Once side is in Greece, and the other is in…"

Leo tilted his head confused when the son of Hades' didn't continue after a few seconds.

"Is in where?" Piper prompted lightly.

A troubled look crossed Nico's face at the question. From where Frank stood barely a foot away from the Ghost King, the son of Mars noticed his lithe form trembling. It became even more apparent something was wrong when his form began to dissolve. Well, not dissolve really, but the edges of his body were becoming smoky.

"Nico!" Hazel went to grab his hand, but hers passed right through.

"S-sorry," Nico replied shakily. "I know ghosts sometime become more unstable when certain topics that either relates to their death, dying wishes, or someone that wronged them while alive comes up." He took a deep breath, but while his trembling had ceased his form was still wispy. "The other side of the Doors of Death is in the Underworld. More precisely, it is in T—"

He slapped a hand over his mouth and turned his head away. It was too terrible so say.

After a moment, Percy caught on with a gasp.

"Tartarus."

Nico looked at him with glassy eyes as his body blurred even farther.

"I thought there was no place in the Underworld I couldn't go." He closed his eyes tightly, hands clasped together despite being mostly wisps. "I was such a fool. I got too close, and Gaea dragged me into the pit. Nine days," he said in a choked whisper. "It took nine days to fall, just like the historians guessed. Her forces overwhelmed me almost as soon as I escaped the River Cocytus."

"You don't have to tell us anything else," Hazel said gently. "You've told us what we needed to know. If you don't want to talk about it we understand."

He shook his head, opening his eyes to reveal barely concealed terror. It was as if he hadn't heard her.

"I ran into Akhlys, the goddess of misery. She told me she couldn't make me more miserable than I already was. Monster after monster came after that. I fought for all long as I could, but more just kept coming. When both giants appeared I knew it was over. T-Tartarus itself was there, mocking me and everyone I care about. I almost went insane," he murmured so quietly they almost didn't catch it. His arms curled around himself out of fear. "Then the giants put me in the jar. After taking a few of the seeds from Persephone's garden, as the days went by, I'd lost hope that you would come. It almost made me happy, since I knew it was a trap. I didn't want anything happening to you because of me."

"We need to close the Doors of Death so we can defeat Gaea," Jason intervened, "which meant we needed to rescue you since the quest Ella gave us said you had 'the key to endless death'. But, Nico, we would have come anyway. Hazel wouldn't have had it any other way."

The fear ebbed from the son of Hades at that statement, his gaze meeting his sister's with affection Jason hadn't thought possible of him. Guilt rushed the son of Jupiter. He made a mental note to not to judge others without getting to know them first.

"I have a question."

Everyone turned to Frank, who quickly squirmed under all of the attention.

"Do we need to close both sides of the Doors of Death in order to stop Gaea's forces from reaching the surface and helping the bad guys? We can't just close the ones in Greece?"

Nico frowned. "No, unfortunately. The doors would have to be controlled on both sides in order for them to be closed. With everyone fighting together at the House of Hades we may be able to cut the chains there, but unless you had a team fighting on the Tartarus side at the same time the monsters will keep coming."

"The House of Hades?" Leo whistled. "Compared to the Doors of Death that sounds just as fun as a haunted house."

"I can guide you through my father's temple. Together we should be able to gain control of the doors there, but I don't have any clue on how to close the other ones."

"Maybe it seems like the stupidest idea ever, but maybe some of us could go to Tartarus?" Percy offered weakly. "If we could find a god or two that knows how important it is that we close the Doors of Death, then perhaps—"

Nico cut him off, his voice final as he hopped down from the railing of the ship and stood so he was directly in front of Percy.

"No. Thanatos, even Hades wouldn't go there. Gaea's monsters are too strong in their home court. Tartarus itself is a living being; everything is designed to hurt, to torture, to kill demigods like us. Everything there will try to break you," as he said this he began shaking once more. Out of fear or anger no one could quite tell. "They take your worst fears, your desires, and those you care about and use it to squeeze every ounce of sanity and hope from you. Don't ever say you would be willing to enter that place, Percy. Please."

The plea was so desperate Percy knew he would tell the kid what he wanted to hear. Before he could, however, the Emmanuel Building came into view.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Their friends gathered around them. Nico di Angelo was there, but Annabeth's thoughts were so fuzzy, this didn't seem surprising to her. It seemed only right that he would be with them." – Mark of Athena ~pg. 474_

* * *

She suddenly heard shouting from behind her friends coming from the ship. Peering through Nico, she could acutely make out Couch Hedge waving at her and saying something about a cupcake, which meant he was probably talking about her.

That's when it occurred to her. She could see  _through_  Nico.

"Oh my gods," Annabeth breathed.

The son of Hades guessed she was reacting to him. It was with a curt tone that he said he'd talk about it later, more interested in the significance of the Athena Parthenos standing like a beacon a few yards away.

After recapping how she'd gotten where she was, how she'd tricked Arachne into weaving her own jail with thanks to Frank for inspiration, and quieted her friends' praises, the daughter of Athena turned her gaze to the statue of her mother once more.

"As you guys can tell just by being near it, the statue is powerful. We need to get it onto the ship since this place is highly unstable."

Leo made a  _tsk tsk tsk_  sound while sizing up the statue appraisingly. "I suppose it might fit, although there might be a little overhang. Your mom won't blast me if I put her likeness in the stable with her feet hanging out, right?"

She rolled her eyes, not wanting to think about what her mother would think about that. Instead, she asked what she'd been wondering from the start. "What happened on your end?"

Percy launched into the tale he had told Frank and others earlier, Hazel adding a brief version of what Nico knew concerning the Doors of Death once he was finished.

"Closing the doors can't be impossible," Annabeth decided. After what she'd been through she felt they could do anything. "We'll find a solution for gaining control of the doors in Epirus and Tartarus."

The moment she said the word, a cold breeze came from the pit on the far side of the chamber. Nico stiffened where he stood, his form beginning to blur and his breath coming out in short gasps.

"Nico?" Hazel called gently from where she was standing by his side. It didn't take a genius to guess he was on the edge of a panic attack. "What's wrong?"

"It's beneath us. We need to get out of here!"

Jason, Leo, Piper, and Frank blinked in confusion at his hysterical tone. Percy and Annabeth were just about to voice their agreement, knowing the breath of Tartarus from their first quest together years ago, when the chamber shifted underneath them.

"Get it secured! Hurry!"

Everyone understood Annabeth's order, Frank and Leo making for the ship while Jason flew Piper up to safety. Hazel worked Nico through his panicked state while Percy aided Annabeth in hobbling toward the  _Argo II_. All around them the floor began to crumble. Hazel had only barely reached the rope ladder when she heard a scream from behind her.

Annabeth was being dragged into the pit with Percy in tow.

As they grew closer to the chasm, Hazel yelled desperately for help. Nico's form was so unstable one could only make out his face clearly. Annabeth caught a glimpse of the ghost demigod sprinting forward despite the state he was in as she slid along the stone. The action touched her heart, but a sob broke the spell of hope as she hit the edge of the pit along with her boyfriend. Her legs went over the side just as she realized how stupid she had been not to cut the webbing from her ankle earlier. Arachne had said she would rather have the both of them dead than alive.

If Percy didn't let go soon, they would both be following Arachne to Tartarus.

They went over the edge. Percy got a hold on a ledge roughly ten feet from the top of the chasm, and he was about to frantically reach for his sword only to realize he couldn't grab it without letting go of Annabeth.

"Percy, let me go." She begged. "You need to save yourself."

The look in his sea green eyes told her his answer before he even said it. She had never seen him so determined in her life.

"Never," he said.

Suddenly, a ghostly hand seemed to grip Percy's wrist. For a moment, Annabeth was filled with hope once more only to notice that Nico was crying. Not a second later did she realize his hand was so blurred and unstable it passed right through Percy.

He couldn't save them.

"Nico," Percy said hurriedly as his grip on the rock loosened, "lead them to the other side."

"What? No, Percy, you can't—"

"Promise me!"

Devastation crashed down on upon the poor ghost. "I will," he managed before slowly floating back towards the top of the chasm and back to where his sister was still screaming for help.

Seconds later, Percy let go.

* * *

The whole place went down shortly after that.

As the floor gave away, Jason flew down to save his friends only to find Hazel clutching the rope ladder for dear life and crying. The son of Jupiter cursed as he quickly carried her to safety.

Percy, Annabeth, and Nico were gone.

"What happened?" Everyone asked Hazel when the ship was parked safely away from the "massive sinkhole" that decided to open up in the parking lot of the Emmanuel Building. That was what the mortals believed anyway.

The absolutely drained daughter of Pluto quickly told her version of the tale, ending with witnessing Percy and Annabeth fall into Tartarus while her brother disappeared when the floor gave out.

"Frank and I should go back and see if we can find them," Jason said with glistening eyes. "Nico's already dead, so he has to be there somewhere. And maybe Percy and Annabeth held on. You never actually saw them fall in."

"They went over the edge," Hazel replied sadly.

"We can't just give up! They're our friends, and we need to help them."

"You can help them by setting course for the House of Hades."

The demigods and satyr spun around quicker than a top at the hoarse sound of Nico di Angelo's voice. Leaning against the foremast, the ghost had a look of utter grief on his face.

"Nico!" Hazel almost laughed in relief. "You're okay!"

He walked over to his sister, placing a soft kiss on her cheek and gazing down at her with absolute adoration. It was obvious to those witnessing the display of affection that she meant the world to him.

"I'm the Ghost King after all. I managed to shadow travel out of there once the floor gave out and I panicked enough to stabilize myself." He said this with a hint of humor, but that vanished almost instantly when his gaze moved to the rest of the group. The distress on everyone's faces was plain.

Jason spoke up first. "What did you mean when you said we can help Percy and Annabeth by leaving them here and heading for Greece?"

Nico mentally applauded the blond for managing to phrase it as a question rather than an accusation like he thought he would.

"I saw Percy and Annabeth fall. They're not there, Jason. Going back to search will only waste what little time we have to get to my father's temple. Percy made me promise I would guide you there so they can meet us on the other side, and I plan on doing so."

"They really fell?" Piper asked miserably. When Nico simply nodded she closed her eyes to suppress anymore tears from falling.

"I killed them," Leo suddenly said. "Nemesis said something bad would happen if I broke that stupid fortune cookie. It's my fault."

Hazel countered him immediately. "No it isn't! If you hadn't broken it Frank, you, and I would be dead. Besides, you can't blame yourself. Not after Sammy."

"Also," Nico broke in, "you guys have to remember they aren't dead. I can sense their souls falling as we speak. They'll survive for the next nine days for sure, and knowing them they will reach the Doors of Death on their side. We have to be on the mortal side to meet them."

"How can you be so sure?" Frank questioned. "I thought you said getting to the doors on the Underworld side was practically impossible."

Under the six pairs of eyes trained on him Nico shrunk back slightly.

"It  _is_  impossible. Being the only one of us here who has actually experienced Tartarus, I know how powerful that place is. I never stood a chance. But," Nico said with more confidence, "this is Percy and Annabeth we're talking about. Percy is the single most powerful demigod I've ever met, and with Annabeth alongside him they stand the best chance there is of finding a way to the doors. No offense."

"He's right," Hazel added. "If anyone can survive it would be those two."

Frank still seemed unsure. "How are only two demigods going to defeat Gaea's most powerful allies?"

"They've done the impossible before. I'm confident they can do it again. However, we need to do our part and get a move on. I promised Percy I would lead you guys to the mortal side of the doorway; we'll meet them there and combine forces." Nico said.

"Getting there might not be as simple as it sounds though," Jason brought up. "Gaea will do everything she can to stop us."

Leo made a scoffing sound. "That old dirt hag has been a pain in my behind since I was born! What else is new? We'll defeat her lackeys like we always have."

Piper rolled her eyes, but smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. "Leo's right. We'll set sail for the House of Hades and stop her armies from coming to the surface. We should hurry too. Soon the Romans will be marching into New York, then our camp next."

"We have one month," Jason added. "A month from today according to the giants."

The son of Hephaestus whistled. "We need to get the statue loaded up before we take off then. Frank, will you help out by turning into an elephant? I'm going to need a hand, I mean,  _trunk_ , if we want to get the Athena Parthenos into the hold without breaking her."

* * *

As night fell, the  _Argo II_  was silent without Percy or Annabeth's presence. The light in Annabeth's cabin wasn't on as she stayed up late to work on her projects on Daedalus' laptop. Percy wasn't on the night-watch cracking corny jokes with Leo. It was as if the life had been drained from the ship. In Nico's opinion it didn't help that he was there either; he was a ghost after all. His presence made the ship even more morbid.

Nico stared up at the sky. A wave of emotion swept through him at the sight, sending his already haywire brain into overdrive. Just that morning he had been sure he'd never see the stars again. He could only remember the despair he'd felt as the last of his oxygen was used up, and the calm acceptance that had washed over him when Thanatos finally claimed his soul.

He really did owe his father quite a bit though. During his final living moments he was sure he felt the hand of Hades on his shoulder, a sense of peace washing over him at the height of his panic. Slipping away had been like slipping into the most restful sleep he could remember instead of drowning alive with terror in his heart. When the whole Gaea thing was over Nico resolved to thank his father since he hadn't had the chance to between dying and his soul being turned into a ghost. He had simple woken up a spirit when Hazel touched his corpse, and his mind had put the pieces together.

Still, Nico felt different. Dying made him more confident at times since he felt he had nothing to lose. He was already a ghost, so it wasn't like he was scared if he got into dangerous situations like the one they had just been in. That instance had been special because it was Tartarus.

He shivered at the memory. Just as dying had changed him positively it also affected him negatively. If he used his powers too much it was like his soul would begin to fragment. Sometimes he would become abnormally calm and voice his emotions like nobody's business, whereas he usually tried to hide what he felt. Other times he would enter a state of panic or experience flashbacks he'd rather purge from his memory. Part of him worried about what would happen next time. Just because he was dead didn't mean he couldn't experience embarrassment.

"Hey."

A voice from his left broke him from his worries. Floating there via the wind currents keeping him aloft was Jason, the only demigod that could appear in the air next to Nico while he was standing on the edge of the foremast. Sometimes being a weightless ghost had its perks. Nico could be a killer tightrope walker if he wished.

"Hello, Jason." Nico said to the son of Jupiter in a formal tone. Other than his sister or Frank, he wasn't sure of how to talk to the other questers one on one. They hardly knew each other and Nico remembered the old praetor being weary of him when he first came to Camp Jupiter.

The blond didn't seem so distrustful now. He looked thoughtful as his blue eyes rose to where Nico had been staring moments prior.

"It must get lonely sitting out here all by yourself. It's my turn for the rest of the night watch, so what do you think about hanging out until dawn?"

"You'd want to hang out with me?" Nico asked incredulously. "Usually those with our father's blood have to be distanced in order to keep each other from murdering one another."

"I'm not my father," he replied easily. "And from what Percy said earlier today neither are you. I admit I judged you a bit harshly when you first came to camp and when Percy told me about your encounters in the past, but I feel like I should really get to know you before I form an opinion. Here I am making an effort."

Jason smiled, and for a moment Nico had to bury the thought that it was just as cute as Percy's smile. He did not need to develop another crush on another cousin.

"So," the blond continued, "Percy told me you play Mythomagic? How many attack points does my dad have? Please tell me it's more than Poseidon."


	3. Chapter 3

"' _We made it through the mountains,' he said. 'We're almost to Bologna. You should join us in the mess hall. Nico has new information.'" – House of Hades ~pg. 43_

* * *

The son of Hades was growing restless. He told himself to wait to speak until Jason and Leo joined his sister, Frank, and himself in the kitchen, but after working up the courage to summon nearly a dozen ghosts last night the use of his power was messing with him again. It took all of his self control not to pace (or float) across the room like the ghosts wandering the Fields of Asphodel did.

When the two demigods entered the room a few minutes later, Nico spoke before he could stop himself.

"Last night I talked with some ghosts," he explained. "They told me quite a bit of information that'll help us out when we get to my father's temple. But before I get to that there's some information on the temple itself that may prove useful."

He launched into a tale of how the House of Hades was open year-wide to speak with and honor the dead. Leo and Frank broke in once or twice, but it was only after several of Leo's offhand comments that he glared at the annoying elf. The son of Hephaestus quieted immediately. Nico wondered if he unnerved him, deciding he probably did.

"Anyway," Nico said after a while, "one of the ghosts I spoke to confirmed Hecate was the goddess Hazel encountered yesterday. Apparently in the First Giant War she sided with the gods and defeated Clytius, the anti-Hecate giant."

"Dark dude dressed in shadows?" Leo guessed. "I wondered who that guy in my dream was."

Hazel tilted her head. "Dream?"

As Leo launched into what he remembered of his dream, the tinkerer tried not to get distracted by the ghost slowly starting to flitter around the room. By flitter he meant casually floating to either end of the room. Sure Leo liked Hazel, but her brother still gave him the creeps. He felt guilty since the dude had died helping them on their quest, also since Jason seemed to be getting along with him, yet he hadn't brought himself to talk to the kid one on one despite feeling like he should.

"So Clytius will be waiting for us?" Jason asked. "What about the woman Leo mentioned?"

Hazel nodded, speaking while glancing worriedly at her brother as he floated around the room like he was lost and trying to find a way out.

"I'm supposed to defeat her using magic. I'm not sure who she is, but I know she's powerful."

"Any ideas on how to defeat Clytius?" Leo questioned.

Suddenly Nico was floating between Jason and Leo, dark brown eyes far away when he spoke a moment later.

"Fire. Hecate used her torches to set the giant's hair on fire, burning him to death. Fire is his weakness. His weakness…"

His eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as he trailed off. Those watching him had no idea that his head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. He had exhausted himself summoning enough intelligence to get them the information he had, the action made harder since Gaea was trying to block his influence from reaching the Underworld.

The hand that rested on his shoulder a moment later grounded the Ghost King momentarily.

"Thanks for the information, Nico." Jason said. A slight smile was on the son of Jupiter's face, but his eyes held worry. "It's a good lead."

"Y-yeah." He flashed an apologetic look at those in the room as he shook his head, embarrassment flooding him. He needed to remain in control. "We know how to kill the giant, and I believe my sister can defeat the sorceress. Gaea's forces and the ghosts should be the only other problems."

"Ghosts? But you're the Ghost King," Leo pointed out. "Can't you just command them to stand down, heck, even help us?"

Nico frowned. "I can try, but some ghosts may resist. Not all ghosts are friendly either, and now that I'm one of them some may try to steal my title as the Ghost King from me. They might take advantage of the fact I'm not completely myself anymore."

A shadow fell over the group. Nobody had voiced the subtle changes in Nico's character over the past few days. Sometimes he would be completely fine, and others he wouldn't act like himself. If he had just used his powers helping defend the ship he would later either turn into a wispy mess or start muttering like a madman. It was getting worse and worse as time went on; Hazel was worried the call of death was trying to get her brother to go to the Underworld.

"We'll defeat anything in our path," Frank stated. "We can do it, because we have to for Percy and Annabeth."

Hazel smiled. "Exactly."

It was at that moment that the ship rocked dangerously to one side. The food and cutlery slid across the table and flew through a confused Nico, who glanced to the screens on the walls around them as they turned to static.

"What's going on?" Leo shouted as the ship lurched to the other side and sent everyone but the ghost falling to the ground. It was then the static on the screens turned to images of the helm.

Piper and Coach Hedge were tied up at their respective positions. They appeared to be struggling, but the demigods' attention was captured by the monkey-like creatures stealing everything in sight. It was when the Archimedes Sphere was taken that Leo picked himself off the floor in a flurry.

"Those monkeys are going to be burnt jerky when I'm done with them!"

"Dwarfs," Hazel corrected. Leo didn't hear her though because he was already running up the stairs.

Nico helped her up as Jason ran after his friend, but when he turned to follow she stopped him.

"Frank, go help Jason and Leo. Nico, you and I are going to stay here. You need to rest or else you're going to fall apart at the seams."

"I'm already dead, Hazel. I'll be resting for the rest of my existence once Gaea is stopped. Just let me—"

The look Hazel gave him shut him up. With a sigh, he resigned himself to sit at the table with his sister.

* * *

The next day, he really was feeling better.

His form was solid as he leaned on the railing overlooking Venice. Not using his powers for the past day had allowed himself to return to full strength. It also helped that today might end up being fruitful.

Previously, Jason and Leo had returned to the ship after the whole dwarf incident with something valuable. The leather-bound book Leo found out had belonged to a god could work as payment for information. Hopefully the gift would put whomever owned the manual in a sharing kind of mood.

"Well," Leo drawled as he tore his eyes away from the monsters walking around the city, "the address is written in Italian.  _La Casa Nera, Calle Frezzeria._  Do you think we can just walk around until we see a place that has this written on a flashing sign or…?"

"We're looking for The Black House," Nico interrupted. " _Calle Frezzeria_  is the street."

Frank glanced at him curiously. "You speak Italian?"

"I _am_  Italian."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Jason said while frowning at the horizon. Thunder rumbled in the distance. "I'm going to stay here incase more  _venti_ show up to cause trouble."

Coach Hedge grunted. "I'm going to stay too. I'll get more fighting action here than in Venice since you cupcakes want to miss out on using those animals as piñatas."

"Actually, Coach, you can help me fix the foremast. And I need your help installing something in the engine room." Leo said with a manic smile.

"I don't think I'm going either," the daughter of Aphrodite confessed. "I feel like whoever goes should be good with animals, and cows don't really like me."

After a few seconds of silence, Frank raised his hand.

"I can go."

"I'll go with you."

Everyone turned to Nico, surprised he would volunteer to go on this little excursion. Frank looked a bit uneasy too at the prospect of going on a stroll through a monster-infested Venice with a ghost to cover his back.

"Um, you're good with animals?" Piper asked, an eyebrow raised.

He shook his head. "No. Animals tended to hate me even before I died, so now that I am dead they'll really be bothered. There are a lot of restless spirits around though. I sent them a message to stay clear of any demigods in the area, but I want to go with in case they become a problem. Also, I do speak Italian."

"True," Frank said while turning to Hazel. "You'll join us too, right? If Leo comes with I don't think Nico and I could deal with his horrible sense of humor."

"Hey, you're just jealous because I have a sense of humor."

Hazel laughed at Leo's retort, turning to Frank and Nico and nodding.

"Of course I'll come with. Now, let's find the owner of that book!"

* * *

"This way."

Hazel and Frank continued following Nico's directions obediently, but when they turned the corner and caught sight of the only black building they'd seen throughout the city they stopped. Nico noticed immediately.

"What's wrong?"

The daughter of Pluto frowned. "That building, is it the one we're searching for? I'm getting a bad vibe from it."

"Yes it is, and I feel that too, Hazel. This neighborhood is filled with  _lemures_  all swarming around that building."

"Did you say lemurs?" Frank asked incredulously.

" _Lemures_ ," Nico repeated. "Angry ghosts. There are so many of them here, but I'm not sure why. My mom told me …" He hesitated, unsure of himself. "She used to tell me stories about the ghosts of Venice."

"So your mom was Italian?" Frank guessed, trying to be polite and show he was interested. "Was she from Venice?"

The ghost nodded absentmindedly, not even noticing how he was gently floating two inches above the ground. He shared how his mother had met his father here before World War II. He explained how he can remember most of the language he learned before Hades helped his family flee the country as the war grew closer to home.

"That must've been hard," Frank said.

"I don't remember it. I can only guess how hard it was on my mother."

"I guess we'll do anything for someone we love," Hazel said while grabbing onto one of her brother's hands and giving it a squeeze. At the same time she squeezed Frank's hand as well.

The son of Mars couldn't help but smile; however, at the sound of his father's Greek and Roman aspects fighting he swallowed nervously and returned to the task at hand.

"Anyway, how do we avoid the  _lemures_?" He asked.

"I sent the message to stay back earlier, but most of them ignored it, apparently. The best thing we can do is get across the piazza before they test my authority."

They went to hurry across to The Black House, but less than a minute later Hazel stumbled. This caused the cow monsters to get very agitated, very quickly. Frank tried to cover the children of the Underworld's escape. When the plants that seemed to be the monster's food source started wrapping around Hazel's feet as she ran though, some of the monsters got past Frank and had to be forced back by Nico.

That's when things really went wrong.

While Frank took on the bulk of the monsters, Nico simply dispatched the two that had managed to follow his sister and him. As he was doing this though Hazel was tripped yet again by the meddlesome plants rising up from the street. She fell to the ground hard, eyes widening as a monster walking along the side street they were nearby suddenly charged. The last image she remembered before blacking out was a green fog being blasted in her face and a swing of a black blade.

Moments later, Frank found Nico kneeling next to his sister. He was desperately trying to wake her up.

"What happened?"

"One of them appeared from behind and blasted her before either of us could react. You need to get her back to the ship, Frank. Forget about me. I'll keep the rest of the creatures and ghosts occupied, then meet you back there later."

"I'm afraid that's not a very good idea, Ghosty. Only I know the cure."

The two boys spun around to see a young man with curly black hair smiling at them. He appeared friendly and harmless, but the demigods doubted that was really the case.

"You can cure her?" Nico asked, distrust being drowned out by desperation.

"Of course. Now, if you just follow me inside we can talk about what you can do for me in return. If we stay out here the katobleps may turn the rest of you into ghosts."

Frank quickly collected the daughter of Pluto and followed the man into the house they had been trying to get into in the first place. He ignored the various plants, pungent smell of fertilizer, and even the napping python in the corner in place for finding somewhere to lie Hazel down.

"You can set your friend here, living one. She seems a bit cold."

Listening to the man, Frank placed Hazel on the bed and covered her shivering form with a blanket. "What did those things do to her?"

"Not things, katobleps. Down-lookers."

Nico groaned suddenly, a light blush on his cheeks.

"Now I remember. They have a card in Mythomagic."

Frank gazed at him in surprise. "You play Mythomagic?"

"More like played, although Jason has taken an interest in it. The card was in the Africanus Extreme expansion deck."

"I never got that one."

Nico's eyes lit up somewhat despite the situation. "You play?"

"I played more growing up, but yeah. Jason is learning too? When did—"

A cough from their host stopped them from geeking out any longer. "Anyway," said man continued, "a katoblep's breath is poisonous. They've become quite fond of the magical poisonous roots outside, which happen to make their breath even more dangerous. It seems that while they ignore mortals they do not like demigods."

"We noticed that," Frank stated with a hint of annoyance in his tone. He was trying to be patient, but his girlfriend was suffering. "Will you cure her or not?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe? She isn't breathing! We need to help her now. Nico, please tell me she's doing that death-trance thing."

The Ghost King seemed uneasy. "Her dad is technically Pluto, not Hades, so I don't think she–"

"Hades!" Their host backed away, staring at Nico with loathing. "And here I thought you were just a ghost. Two children of the Underworld? I would never have let you in had I known that!"

Frank stood up angrily.

"They're good people. Heck, Nico even died helping us in our quest to defeat Gaea and stop the world from being destroyed. Don't let his sister die."

"I'm afraid I cannot be of assistance."

Nico drew his sword, eyes darkening with anger.

"I don't know who you are, but if you can cure her you have to. I am the Ghost King. Do not take me lightly."

"Why should I be scared of a brat like you, Ghosty?" The man laughed.

"He survived Tartarus," Frank put in. "Dealing with a jerk like you will be like swatting a bug."

Their not-so-kind host raised an eyebrow. "Really? Don't you think I know how to deal with angry ghosts after living here for so long? Be gone, pest."

With a raised hand and words whispered in ancient Greek, suddenly Nico di Angelo's form erupted into smoke. Frank gaped at the spot he had been occupying a second ago.

"What did you do to him?"

"I just banished him. I would have turned him into a plant like so," he demonstrated by turning Hazel into a corn stalk, "but ghosts have to be dealt with differently. If you want him back you'll have to ask the daughter of Pluto about summoning his spirit. Even she should be able to manage that. Unless you're a child of the Underworld too…"

"I'm a son of Mars."

"Not much better, but I'll let you choose what to be turned into. How do you feel about snapdragons?"

"Wait!" Frank showed him the almanac, which made the man's eyes go wide. "Please help my friend. We went all this way just to return this to you, hoping you could tell us how to survive the House of Hades."

"Oh, that's simple. Just eat barley before drinking from the chalice filled with deadly poison and it'll allow you to advance further into the temple without actually dying. If you manage to get your ghost friend back he won't even have to worry about that. The temple itself may drive him crazy though, just so you know. The dead become violent or lose their minds upon going in too far."

"How do I stop him from going crazy or getting violent?"

"Boy, I'm the god of farming. Does the name Triptolemus ring a bell? I only know how to banish ghosts, not control them. If I did I would have ghost armies farming as far as the eye can see. Besides, I would worry about summoning him back before getting uneasy about his later mental state."

Frank swallowed. If he ever convinced this guy to turn Hazel back and cure her, she was going to kill him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this feel free to leave a kudos or comment, and thanks those who [support](https://ko-fi.com/U6U08JKG) me!


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